A 6-mile stretch of the freeway from the 15 to the 71 will close from late Friday, Feb. 19, to early Monday, Feb. 22. During the shutdown, Caltrans will build a bridge over the freeway at Maple Street.

Transportation officials suggest drivers use the 15, 60 and 71 freeways instead, but some local officials worry that backups near the detour will leave drivers seeking any exit they can find.

Riverside County Transportation Commission officials are watching the weather forecast, which includes a chance of rain on Thursday and Friday. They’ll decide by early Wednesday, Feb. 17, whether to continue as planned, Deputy Director John Standiford said. Only “significant rains” during the actual work would delay the project until the following weekend, he said.

East of the planned closure in Riverside, City Councilman Jim Perry worries that westbound drivers heading toward Corona may exit the 91 at La Sierra Avenue, Tyler Street or Van Buren Boulevard. He expects more traffic on Indiana and Magnolia avenues, which parallel the freeway for several miles.

“I think it’s safe to assume people don’t like waiting in traffic so they’re going to start looking for an alternative street to get off (the 91),” he said.

Riverside traffic engineers will monitor the situation through the weekend and adjust the timing of traffic lights near exits or at clogged intersections if needed, Perry said.

The potential gridlock may be eased by the Friday opening of a new bridge on Magnolia Avenue that crosses the railroad tracks between Buchanan Avenue and Lincoln Street in the Home Gardens area. Final construction touches remain, but Riverside County officials said they will open four lanes to traffic – two each way – to relieve congestion during the freeway closure.

Once the freeway reopens, the bridge will be reduced to one lane each way until work is done in April.

Alicia Robinson covers Anaheim for The Orange County Register. She previously spent 10 years at The Press-Enterprise writing about Riverside and local government as well as Norco, Corona, homeless issues, Alzheimer's disease, streetcars, butterflies, horses and chickens. She grew up in the Midwest but earned Southern California native status during many hours spent in traffic. Two big questions Alicia tries to answer in stories about government are: how is it supposed to work, and how is it working?